Ncaa tournament venues Topic

Posted by gillispie on 3/8/2013 12:52:00 PM (view original):
do people frequently just get tickets for a venue, and figure they will go watch anyone play? ive bought tickets trying to guess where UK would go (bad idea, guessed wrong, had to sell em), but other than, the only time i went somewhere UK wasnt playing, was to watch butler play in the championship in indianapolis, as it was only an hour or so away. we had tickets hoping UK would make it, or i probably wouldnt have went. i guess it would be fun, but i wouldnt think it would be a regular thing... just going to see any random people play. just wondering if many others do that.

side note - buying NCAA tickets for the final game is a HORRIBLE value. you can easily get tickets at the game for about 30 bucks. really my experience is such that i wont even consider buying tickets for any bball games anymore, not online, its such a rip off. scalpers are seemingly always cheaper. sometimes the first game of the 2 games (or first session of the two) is about comparable, but then you save huge on the second session, and can get some banging seats, especially if you are sitting near fans of the other team.
im going just to see teams play its just a great experience cnt wait to go this year
3/9/2013 8:37 PM
Posted by phillyboy107 on 3/8/2013 3:02:00 PM (view original):
If a team is a 4 seed or lower and the site is in their state but not in their actual city then they will get that venue. So basically Michigan and Michigan State are in Auburn Hills. I dont care who plays just love watching NCAA tournament.
That is not correct.

See iguana's explanation.

And in the future, please refrain from arguing with Iguana -- the Surgeon General highly recommends against it.

3/9/2013 9:06 PM
Posted by gillispie on 3/8/2013 12:52:00 PM (view original):
do people frequently just get tickets for a venue, and figure they will go watch anyone play? ive bought tickets trying to guess where UK would go (bad idea, guessed wrong, had to sell em), but other than, the only time i went somewhere UK wasnt playing, was to watch butler play in the championship in indianapolis, as it was only an hour or so away. we had tickets hoping UK would make it, or i probably wouldnt have went. i guess it would be fun, but i wouldnt think it would be a regular thing... just going to see any random people play. just wondering if many others do that.

side note - buying NCAA tickets for the final game is a HORRIBLE value. you can easily get tickets at the game for about 30 bucks. really my experience is such that i wont even consider buying tickets for any bball games anymore, not online, its such a rip off. scalpers are seemingly always cheaper. sometimes the first game of the 2 games (or first session of the two) is about comparable, but then you save huge on the second session, and can get some banging seats, especially if you are sitting near fans of the other team.
Jeff -- as a basketball fan, absolutely! Are you kidding?

If anything (Big Ten Tourney, NCAAs) is in Chicago, I'll go. I also go to the Final Four every year (since '99). Just lots of fun, great basketball.

As for your comment re: buying tickets in advance online -- absolutely correct, you will end up paying more almost every time, sometimes a lot more. This is true for nearly every sporting event I've ever been to, and there's been a lot of them. (That said, claiming that you can just get tickets to the title game for $30 isn't true, either. I'm not saying that it's never happened, but if you went every year and that was your expectation, you'd end up sorely disappointed. And any tickets you can get cheaply will be bad ... there are a lot of baaaad basketball seats in the football stadiums that they're playing in.)

The single biggest driver of F4 ticket prices is really the proximity of schools to the site. If there are one or two schools within semi-reasonable driving distance -- like the Illini to St. Louis a few years back -- then tix will be tough. If all the schools are all a plane ride away, then you can usually get a decent deal if you're patient. There are other factors (notably size of the school ... ie VCU or George Mason won't bring the level of fan support that Ohio State or Michigan State would), but proximity is by far the most important.

3/9/2013 9:14 PM
Posted by paynebrow on 3/9/2013 12:46:00 AM (view original):
A few thoughts:

I agree - I'd rather sit at home and watch all day in hopes of catching the 15 over 2.

Also, if you can't make the first game of the session, fans of the first game will often leave and sell their tickets (~$5-10). This was true back a few years ago, and the arena allowed for reentry...but this could make for a fun time.

i  disagree i would so much rather go to the game then watch it at home its not even close u get to watch basketball and the ncaa tourney is just a great experience.
3/9/2013 9:14 PM
Posted by girt25 on 3/9/2013 9:14:00 PM (view original):
Posted by gillispie on 3/8/2013 12:52:00 PM (view original):
do people frequently just get tickets for a venue, and figure they will go watch anyone play? ive bought tickets trying to guess where UK would go (bad idea, guessed wrong, had to sell em), but other than, the only time i went somewhere UK wasnt playing, was to watch butler play in the championship in indianapolis, as it was only an hour or so away. we had tickets hoping UK would make it, or i probably wouldnt have went. i guess it would be fun, but i wouldnt think it would be a regular thing... just going to see any random people play. just wondering if many others do that.

side note - buying NCAA tickets for the final game is a HORRIBLE value. you can easily get tickets at the game for about 30 bucks. really my experience is such that i wont even consider buying tickets for any bball games anymore, not online, its such a rip off. scalpers are seemingly always cheaper. sometimes the first game of the 2 games (or first session of the two) is about comparable, but then you save huge on the second session, and can get some banging seats, especially if you are sitting near fans of the other team.
Jeff -- as a basketball fan, absolutely! Are you kidding?

If anything (Big Ten Tourney, NCAAs) is in Chicago, I'll go. I also go to the Final Four every year (since '99). Just lots of fun, great basketball.

As for your comment re: buying tickets in advance online -- absolutely correct, you will end up paying more almost every time, sometimes a lot more. This is true for nearly every sporting event I've ever been to, and there's been a lot of them. (That said, claiming that you can just get tickets to the title game for $30 isn't true, either. I'm not saying that it's never happened, but if you went every year and that was your expectation, you'd end up sorely disappointed. And any tickets you can get cheaply will be bad ... there are a lot of baaaad basketball seats in the football stadiums that they're playing in.)

The single biggest driver of F4 ticket prices is really the proximity of schools to the site. If there are one or two schools within semi-reasonable driving distance -- like the Illini to St. Louis a few years back -- then tix will be tough. If all the schools are all a plane ride away, then you can usually get a decent deal if you're patient. There are other factors (notably size of the school ... ie VCU or George Mason won't bring the level of fan support that Ohio State or Michigan State would), but proximity is by far the most important.

+1
3/9/2013 9:15 PM
Posted by paynebrow on 3/9/2013 12:46:00 AM (view original):
A few thoughts:

I agree - I'd rather sit at home and watch all day in hopes of catching the 15 over 2.

Also, if you can't make the first game of the session, fans of the first game will often leave and sell their tickets (~$5-10). This was true back a few years ago, and the arena allowed for reentry...but this could make for a fun time.

my experience is that in 2 game sessions, the arena often does not allow for re-entry. not always, but usually, IMO. HOWEVER, if your team plays second, its DEFINITELY worth getting in with cheap seats (possibly obtained after the first game starts, even), and then going down to the section of the losing team, and either picking up a couple of their tickets cheap, or just sitting down anywhere and moving to open seats if the owners return. 

every game i go to, regardless of whether i already have tickets and/or great seats, i try to analyze the situation and learn more for future encounters. so if anyone else has experiences like there, and wants to share situations and how things went, i'd love to hear it! i hope to be a master at this stuff some day (already feel like im way better off than i was a few years ago, can get much better seats and much better pricing for those seats, in many situations, than i used to be).

you can probably check ahead of time if re-entry is allowed - and if not, you can just go down and find out from the guys at the gate, if you are already there. and at that time, if your team is second, you can act accordingly - if re-entry is allowed, you might want to wait and buy tickets off anyone who loses (many people will just hand them to you). if re-entry is NOT allowed, you can then buy tickets before the game. and of course, you can buy cheap ones and then try to upgrade, which i did successfully last year during UK's NT run, at least twice. one other thing to keep in mind is that sometimes, especially in really big stadiums, you can't get into the lower level area without lower level tickets. you can find this out pretty easily if you are physically there, i was unable to find out online when i tried. if theres no separate entrances for upper and lower tickets, you are definitely good. but even if there are, you can often get through, and to find out, just ask the attendants (id ask a couple, their quality of info is not always that good). probably best to ask it in a way that suggests you arent playing games with tickets, like, hey i have a couple buddies in the lower level, we wanted to link up between games and hang out until the 2nd games start, does it connect inside?

3/9/2013 10:47 PM
Posted by girt25 on 3/9/2013 9:06:00 PM (view original):
Posted by phillyboy107 on 3/8/2013 3:02:00 PM (view original):
If a team is a 4 seed or lower and the site is in their state but not in their actual city then they will get that venue. So basically Michigan and Michigan State are in Auburn Hills. I dont care who plays just love watching NCAA tournament.
That is not correct.

See iguana's explanation.

And in the future, please refrain from arguing with Iguana -- the Surgeon General highly recommends against it.

iguana does have some of the highest quality of info of any poster... he doesnt post often, and maybe that has something to do with it - but regardless, ive found his info is VERY good. discovered that when i started 5 years ago, and its held true ever since.
3/9/2013 10:49 PM
Posted by girt25 on 3/9/2013 9:14:00 PM (view original):
Posted by gillispie on 3/8/2013 12:52:00 PM (view original):
do people frequently just get tickets for a venue, and figure they will go watch anyone play? ive bought tickets trying to guess where UK would go (bad idea, guessed wrong, had to sell em), but other than, the only time i went somewhere UK wasnt playing, was to watch butler play in the championship in indianapolis, as it was only an hour or so away. we had tickets hoping UK would make it, or i probably wouldnt have went. i guess it would be fun, but i wouldnt think it would be a regular thing... just going to see any random people play. just wondering if many others do that.

side note - buying NCAA tickets for the final game is a HORRIBLE value. you can easily get tickets at the game for about 30 bucks. really my experience is such that i wont even consider buying tickets for any bball games anymore, not online, its such a rip off. scalpers are seemingly always cheaper. sometimes the first game of the 2 games (or first session of the two) is about comparable, but then you save huge on the second session, and can get some banging seats, especially if you are sitting near fans of the other team.
Jeff -- as a basketball fan, absolutely! Are you kidding?

If anything (Big Ten Tourney, NCAAs) is in Chicago, I'll go. I also go to the Final Four every year (since '99). Just lots of fun, great basketball.

As for your comment re: buying tickets in advance online -- absolutely correct, you will end up paying more almost every time, sometimes a lot more. This is true for nearly every sporting event I've ever been to, and there's been a lot of them. (That said, claiming that you can just get tickets to the title game for $30 isn't true, either. I'm not saying that it's never happened, but if you went every year and that was your expectation, you'd end up sorely disappointed. And any tickets you can get cheaply will be bad ... there are a lot of baaaad basketball seats in the football stadiums that they're playing in.)

The single biggest driver of F4 ticket prices is really the proximity of schools to the site. If there are one or two schools within semi-reasonable driving distance -- like the Illini to St. Louis a few years back -- then tix will be tough. If all the schools are all a plane ride away, then you can usually get a decent deal if you're patient. There are other factors (notably size of the school ... ie VCU or George Mason won't bring the level of fan support that Ohio State or Michigan State would), but proximity is by far the most important.

interesting (same goes for the other guys who said they go). my inhibition is usually the distance, and the price - if there were games being played close by, and it wasnt very expensive, id definitely be interested. id probably go for the 2nd session at least, assuming i could get tickets cheap on site.

i definitely agree the 30 dollar tickets will be bad, but its really no different than the 180 dollar tickets you get in the NCAA lottery (although, those are for both games, i suppose). ive only been to the title game twice, but there was a **** TON of 30 dollar tickets around, not even negotiating. it does depend who plays to some extent i guess, but i think the years i went, would have had higher than normal prices. maybe im wrong, i cant remember the duke/butler final 4, but butler is local and duke is a major national player, so i would think those would have been relatively hot tickets, compared to the average NCAA tournament. now, if 90% of the fans are there for 2 schools, and both made it, i could see it. but in new orleans, UK was by far the biggest fan base (as one would expect), and i really dont think ohio state had kansas, at least, not significantly. and even then, for UK-KU, both major national programs, there were a ton of guys getting rid of those 30 dollar tickets.

actually, i lied, i was in san antonio as well, for UK UCONN. i didnt even go to the final though (i preferred to spend the remainder of the trip with my wife, getting wasted, and so we did). my dad, who is into the whole optimizing the scalping situation thing with me, was able to get like 125 bucks for our tickets i think (for the pair), but they were the 2nd of 3 levels, and he found a buyer several hours before hand, like in a bar or something, where prices will be more reasonable. i cant remember if he said they were 30 exactly, but i do remember he said it was a pretty similar situation to indianapolis (butler/duke), where there were a bunch of cheap tickets everywhere before the game.

so anyway, it sounds like you've been to a bunch of these - when did you see something different? or were you really just discounting those upper level tickets you get in the NCAA lottery, as worthless? i sat lower level for all the UK games last year, was even 8 rows back, 3 point line for indiana (that was as good as we got), so i wasnt really up for the 30 dollar tickets myself. but that was mostly because im a passionate UK fan, sitting upper level for butler duke was still a lot of fun, and if it wasnt a UK game, id have no problem sitting way up there.

3/9/2013 11:01 PM (edited)
Posted by patsrule755 on 3/9/2013 9:14:00 PM (view original):
Posted by paynebrow on 3/9/2013 12:46:00 AM (view original):
A few thoughts:

I agree - I'd rather sit at home and watch all day in hopes of catching the 15 over 2.

Also, if you can't make the first game of the session, fans of the first game will often leave and sell their tickets (~$5-10). This was true back a few years ago, and the arena allowed for reentry...but this could make for a fun time.

i  disagree i would so much rather go to the game then watch it at home its not even close u get to watch basketball and the ncaa tourney is just a great experience.
So it's not basketball that everyone is watching on TV at home?
3/10/2013 1:48 AM
I've never heard of an arena letting you leave the stadium after the first session and re-enter for the second. Maybe it happens somewhere, but I've never seen or heard of it.

As billyg said, a great thing to do is loiter downstairs (in the arena) after the first game is over and watch for people leaving because they've already seen their alma mater play, asking them for their (presumably) better stubs. I've also done this at other events, like the US Open (tennis), where you can buy a grounds pass that gets you into all the courts except Ashe (the main one), and then loiter by the main exit after the first match for people who are leaving. FYI, the US Open is a really cool/fun event.

The alternative is to do what my dad did when we'd go to games when I was a kid -- hit the usher of a good section with $20. Obviously not at a crazy packed event like the Final Four, but otherwise almost always worked at Pistons/Tigers games, etc.

3/10/2013 9:21 AM
Posted by dcy0827 on 3/10/2013 1:48:00 AM (view original):
Posted by patsrule755 on 3/9/2013 9:14:00 PM (view original):
Posted by paynebrow on 3/9/2013 12:46:00 AM (view original):
A few thoughts:

I agree - I'd rather sit at home and watch all day in hopes of catching the 15 over 2.

Also, if you can't make the first game of the session, fans of the first game will often leave and sell their tickets (~$5-10). This was true back a few years ago, and the arena allowed for reentry...but this could make for a fun time.

i  disagree i would so much rather go to the game then watch it at home its not even close u get to watch basketball and the ncaa tourney is just a great experience.
So it's not basketball that everyone is watching on TV at home?
It's not saying I won't watch the rest of the games at home but I have to go to a few NCAA tourney games each year.
3/10/2013 11:47 AM
my brother took me to the final four in atlanta for a graduation gift back when MD won it in 2002.  I ended up driving to indy and paying damn near nothing ($50) for lower level behind backboard for championship game tickets (duke vs butler) whereas my brother paid over 500/each (on ebay) for the F4 package in atlanta and we didn't even like any team there and were in the upper level.. we did the atlanta trip for the experience/bucket list writeoff but from here on out we'll be picking our trips and only watching our teams if they're on the east coast and even then we wont be paying the outrageous ebay prices (we've tried to win tickets via the yearly lottery since 2003 but have yet to win the right to purchase them)
3/10/2013 12:25 PM
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